Booth Goodwin

---

title: "Booth Goodwin" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1971-births", "20th-century-american-lawyers", "21st-century-american-lawyers", "goodwin-family", "lawyers-from-charleston,-west-virginia", "living-people", "united-states-attorneys-for-the-southern-district-of-west-virginia", "washington-and-lee-university-school-of-law-alumni", "west-virginia-democrats", "west-virginia-university-alumni"] description: "American attorney" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booth_Goodwin" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American attorney ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
name	Booth Goodwin
image	R Booth Goodwin US Attorney.jpg
office	United States Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia
president	Barack Obama
term_start	June 25, 2010
term_end	December 31, 2015
predecessor	Charles Miller (acting)
successor	Michael B. Stuart
birth_name	Robert Booth Goodwin II
birth_date
birth_place	Charleston, West Virginia, U.S.
relations	Joseph Goodwin (father)
Carte Goodwin (cousin)
party	Democratic
spouse
children	2
education	West Virginia University (BA)
Washington and Lee University (JD)
caption	Goodwin in 2010
::

| name = Booth Goodwin | image = R Booth Goodwin US Attorney.jpg | office = United States Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia | president = Barack Obama | term_start = June 25, 2010 | term_end = December 31, 2015 | predecessor = Charles Miller (acting) | successor = Michael B. Stuart | birth_name = Robert Booth Goodwin II | birth_date = | birth_place = Charleston, West Virginia, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | relations = Joseph Goodwin (father) Carte Goodwin (cousin) | party = Democratic | spouse = | children = 2 | education = West Virginia University (BA) Washington and Lee University (JD) | caption = Goodwin in 2010

Robert Booth Goodwin II (born 1971) is an American attorney with Goodwin & Goodwin LLP in Charleston, West Virginia. He served as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia from 2010 until 2015. Goodwin was a candidate for Governor of West Virginia in 2016.

Early life and education

Goodwin was born in Charleston, West Virginia in 1971. He attended West Virginia University, where he graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in economics 1993. He then earned his Juris Doctor from Washington and Lee University School of Law in 1996.

Career

On January 20, 2010, President Barack Obama nominated Goodwin to serve as United States Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia. Goodwin prosecuted Don Blankenship, securing a conviction for conspiring to undermine federal mine safety laws, which caused the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster.

On December 28, 2015, Goodwin announced that he would be stepping down from his position as U.S. Attorney effective at the end of 2015 and returning to private law practice. On January 1, 2016, Goodwin filed candidacy papers with the West Virginia Secretary of State's office to run for governor of West Virginia as a Democrat in the 2016 election. He lost the Democratic primary to Jim Justice, who went on to win the general election. Goodwin carried two counties, including his home county of Kanawha, as well as neighboring Jackson. He finished in second place with 25%, behind Justice and ahead of Jeff Kessler.

In 2018, Goodwin was treasurer of a super PAC designed to oppose the candidacies for U.S. Senate of Patrick Morrisey and Evan Jenkins and support the reelection of Joe Manchin.

Personal life

Goodwin's father, Joseph Robert Goodwin, was appointed in 1995 by President Bill Clinton to serve as a federal judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia. Goodwin's cousin, Carte Goodwin, briefly served as the junior United States senator from West Virginia in 2010 when he was appointed to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Robert Byrd.

Booth Goodwin's wife, Amy Shuler Goodwin, is the mayor of Charleston, West Virginia, having taken office on January 7, 2019. This made Booth Goodwin the first gentleman of Charleston. They wed on April 17, 1999 and have two sons.

References

References

1. "Amy Shuler Goodwin - About page".
2. "Amen. I'm not from Charleston, but I'm for Charleston. Amy Shuler Goodwin and I chose this place to get married,...".
3. Woodrow, Stephanie. (February 12, 2010). "Meet R. Booth Goodwin II". Main Justice.
4. "Alumni Spotight: Robert Booth Goodwin". West Virginia University, College of Business & Economics.
5. The White House: Office of the Press Secretary. (January 20, 2010). "President Obama Nominates Five to Serve as U.S. Attorneys". [[whitehouse.gov]].
6. (May 27, 2010). "Byrd, Rockefeller Applaud Goodwin Confirmation". [[The State Journal (West Virginia).
7. Clevenger, Andrew. (June 25, 2010). "Goodwin sworn in as U.S. Attorney for Southern W.Va.". [[The Charleston Gazette]].
8. Blinder, Alan. (2015-12-28). "U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin Steps Down; Prosecuted Coal Executive". The New York Times.
9. "WV Campaign Finance Pre-Candidate Listing".
10. Baxter, Anna. (January 4, 2016). "Booth Goodwin files precandidacy papers to run for Governor". WSAZ.
11. "Official 2016 Primary Election Results". West Virginia Secretary of State.
12. McElhinny, Brad. (2018-04-19). "Booth Goodwin, ex-prosecutor at Blankenship trial, leads PAC against Jenkins and Morrisey".
13. 884
14. (July 16, 2010). "Manchin Taps Carte Goodwin for Senate Seat". [[The State Journal (West Virginia).
15. writer, Rebecca Carballo Staff. (2019-01-07). "Amy Goodwin sworn in as mayor of Charleston".
16. "Wheeling native Amy Shuler-Goodwin ready to take the reins in Charleston". Weirton Daily Times.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::